


Splintered

by CyclonicJet



Category: Cosmere - Brandon Sanderson, Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 7,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25074067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyclonicJet/pseuds/CyclonicJet
Comments: 5
Kudos: 25





	1. Chapter 1

Shallan’s head pounded softly. It sounded like her heart had been carried up into her skull. She lifted herself up slowly from the ground and rubbed the back of her head. She groaned loudly. “What happened?” she asked no one in particular. She received no answer. She sighed and looked around. It was pitch black. “Wonderful...”

She tried to remember what had happened. One moment she had been activating an oathgate. There had been an awful ripping noise, and then the next moment she had appeared here. Wherever here was.

The gate was supposed to have swapped with its counterpart at the shattered plains, but wherever this was, was definitely not the shattered plains.

“Pattern?” she asked. She received no answer. “Pattern!?” she said more frantically. Still no response. _Storms._

She took a sharp breath and sucked in a little Stormlight, illuminating the world around her. She was in a room. Just not the Oathgates control room. It was short and blocky, with strata coloring the walls. It looked not unlike a room she might find within Urithiru.

She stood up and suddenly became aware of a figure standing by the wall, examining the strata. Shallan almost yelped in surprise. 

“Wherever we are.” Radiant said, studying the wall and running her hand across it. “It is not Urithiru. This strata is not of the same kind as the city.”

Shallan stumbled back a step from her. She hadn’t summoned her. Radiant had simply formed on her own. That was unnerving. Far more so than whatever the Oathgate had done.

“Thanks for the insight Brightness.” a voice cooed from behind her. Shallan swiveled to find Veil leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling. She tilted her head down to stare at Radiant. “But do you have any idea where we actually are?”

She hadn’t summoned her either. Shallan felt panic welling within her. They weren't acting like they were a part of her. They were acting like they were their own people!

“Of course not.” Radiant snapped. “I only know as much as you do. We share the same knowledge repository, unfortunately.”

“That was an awfully fancy way of saying no.” Veil snarked back. “And just because I’m not _Brightness Radiant_ doesn’t mean I didn’t catch that wisecrack. Trust me prissy. I ain’t thrilled about sharing a head with you either.”

“Shut up! Both of you!” Shallan snapped. “I need to figure this out.” She was still deeply unnerved by the fact they were even here in the first place. But even more concerning was the bickering. They had never done that before. They were starting to act a little too independent of her. A little too free of their source material.

Shallan drew in a deep breath and tried to relax. She needed to prioritize. First she needed to find out where she was. Then she needed to find Pattern. Then she had to-

Veil yawned loudly. “Welp. While you two think of a way out of here, I’m actually going to go find one. Feel free to catch up when you're done standing around.”

With that she walked over and out through the room's sole doorway. Radiant turned to watch her leave and then sighed. 

“If I don’t follow her she’ll end up doing something stupid. I just know it.” 

She also walked out the door. “Probably activate some ancient fabrial and get us all trapped inside this place. I swear I don’t know why we keep her around. All she ever…”

Her voice faded away as she trailed away. Shallan took a sharp and stuttering breath. A cold chill filled her. They were gone. They had simply abandoned her.

‘Don’t be stupid.’ she thought. ‘They haven’t gone anywhere. They’re a part of you. They can’t exactly walk off.’ But still a little part of her felt scared and abandoned by them. Even if that part of her was being profoundly ridiculous.

“Illusions Shallan.’ she thought. ‘That’s all they were. Weavings of light. Nothing more. They weren't real.”

She shook her head and tried to refocus. She couldn’t afford to worry about what was going on with those two right now. She still had to find a way out of here. She still had to find Pattern. She still needed to find…

“Bridgeboy!” she yelped. He had been in the control room with her when it had activated! Where was he!?

* * *

A sudden light appeared in the corridor beyond the room. A soft blue light that carried with it a voice that sounded an awful lot like a young woman.

“Kaladin?” Syl called. “What mess have you gotten us into now?”

Her small visage appeared in the doorway. A tiny blue woman hovering in midair. “Oh.” she said seeing Shallan. “You’re not Kaladin.”

Shallan blinked. “I should hope not.” she said. “I don’t believe I have the requisite temperament to be quite so moody all the time.”

Syl cocked her head. “He’s not _always_ moody. Just _mostly_ moody. There’s a distinction. At least I think so anyway.”

Shallan smiled. “Why Syl. That sounded almost scholarly.”

The spren looked aghast. “It _did,_ didn’t it!?”

Shallan nodded and stepped out to join her in the corridor. “Yes. But is that such a bad thing?”

“Bad? Maybe. Unexpected? Definitely.”

“Well. Perhaps we can expand on this newly found sense of academic interest.” She started walking down the dark corridor. 

Syl flitted after her. “And how do we do that?” she asked, a genuine inquisitiveness in her voice.

“Well. The first pursuit of academia Syl is knowledge. Everything else is secondary. And right now we’re hunting for some elusive information.”

“We are?” she asked.

She nodded her head. “Most certainly. Firstly, we’re trying to discover where we are. Secondly, we’re trying to find a way out. And thirdly, and perhaps most importantly. We’re trying to find out where the boys have disappeared off too.”


	2. Chapter 2

Kaladin stalked down empty hallways, the light of a lone sphere held before him illuminating the way. On his back he could hear Pattern humming. The spren seemed utterly unperturbed by events.

Kaladin had no idea what had happened. One moment they had been at the Oathgate. Then there had been a loud tearing noise, that had sounded a lot like the walls of the controls room were being torn apart. Then they had appeared here. None of it made any sense to him. But maybe that was for the best. Ancient magical teleportation probably wasn’t meant to be understood anyway. At least not by him.

“Any idea where we’re heading?” Kaladin asked, looking to fill the disquieting silence that pervaded the hallway.

Pattern changed the tune of his hum. “No.” he said. “But this is the right way.”

Kaladin grunted. Storming spren. Always speaking in riddles. “How can you know this is the right way, if you don’t know where we’re going?”

He changed his pitch again. Kaladin couldn’t read what that meant. “The pattern. Yes. This is the right way. What lies at the end I do not know. Yes. Very exciting.”

Kaladin rolled his eyes. But he kept walking in the direction the spren had indicated. It’s not like he had any better ideas.

“So. Any idea where we are?” he asked.

The hum changed again. Kaladin actually thought he recognized this one. It sounded contemplative. “No. It is the same as when we arrived.” he said. “The pattern is different here. Strange. New. Intriguing.”

Kaladin gave up. He had no idea how Shallan ever managed to pull anything useful out of the spren. But then again she was always speaking and acting in strange ways too. Perhaps in that way they were perfect for each other. 

He instead turned his attention to the walls. Beyond the pale light of his sphere the darkness was absolute. They had to be underground. Or at least very far from the sun.

Based on the strata in the walls, he had initially believed this was Urithiru. But Pattern was convinced that it was not, that the strata was different in some undefinable way that Kaladin couldn’t see. He had simply shrugged and accepted the spren’s assessment. It didn’t change the fact they were still lost in the place, wherever this place was.

“Do you know what happened at the Oathgate?” Kaladin asked. “Why it sent us here?”

“Hmmm.” Pattern hummed. “Many questions. So few answers.”

“Is that a no?”

“It is not a yes.”

Storming spren. Kaladin found himself really missing Syl right about now.


	3. Chapter 3

Syl fluttered around Shallan. Darting from wall to wall and inspecting the colors within them. Every little thing seemed to fascinate her. In many ways Syl reminded Shallan of herself. So ready to stop and examine every little thing that she came across.

Except Syl had a whimsy to her study. She would examine something for the barest of moments before growing disinterested and moving on. She had so much energy, with no place to direct it. She was virtually the exact opposite of Pattern in that regard.

“What do you make of the strata here Syl?” Shallan asked.

Syl paused before a patch of wall and cocked her head at it. “It seems...familiar somehow…”

“I imagine it reminds you of Urithiru. But I’m pretty confident that-“

“No.” Syl said over her. “It’s not that. It’s something else. Something I can’t quite remember…” The spren stared intently at the wall for a moment. Her face scrunched up in concentration as she appeared to be trying to recall something. A memory she couldn’t quite recollect.

Then in her next proverbial breath, Syl broke away from the wall and shrugged. “Nope. Can’t remember.” She zoomed off down the hallway, looking for something else to study.

Shallan sighed. She had no idea how Kaladin managed to live with a spren that was so easily distracted. So easily excitable. She was-

Shallan froze. She had just seen movement down the adjacent corridor they had just passed. Before she could back up to look, she heard voices wafting down the hallway.

“You obviously have no idea where you’re going.” said Veil.

“I know exactly where I’m going.” Radiant replied. “And it’s as far away from you as possible.”

“Well I know where I’m going. And it’s wherever you go. So good luck shirking me off brightness.”

“You are insufferable. Do you know that?”

“Yes. But I pull it off so well.”

Shallan stumbled back to look down the hallway. But there was no one there. No lightweavings. No nothing. Just an empty corridor. Had that all just been in her head!?

Syl floated back to her. “Shallan?” she asked concernedly. “Are you alright?”

Shallan spent a moment longer staring down the empty hallway. Then she shook herself and began walking back the way they had been heading.

“Yes. Quite fine Syl. I thought I saw something. But it was nothing more than a trick of the eye.” At least she hoped it had been.


	4. Chapter 4

Light. At the end of the corridor there was light! Kaladin ran towards it. He broke into a sprint as the bright pinprick resolved itself into a gateway. Glorious sunshine blazing beyond it.

He practically exploded out of the tunnel. Leaving the shadows behind and embracing the light. He soaked it in. Like a fish given a new lease of life after having been thrown back to the ocean.

And he immediately started falling. There was no ground beneath him. A mad yelping noise escaped him, and he hurriedly sucked in stormlight, lashing himself upward.

He soared into the sky, flying back above the archway he had so recently arrived out from. Cancelling his lashing he drew to a halt and hovered in the air. From here he could see clearly what the situation below was.

Extending away from the archway was the fractured ruins of a bridge. A bridge that had once spanned a large canyon, and connected the archway with a building sitting upon an opposing mountaintop. A building that looked an awful lot like an Oathgate.

“Where in Roshar…” Kaladin muttered. He didn’t recognise this place. None of the Oathgates were up in the mountains. Except for the ones at Urithiru. And this was definitely not Urithiru.

“Not Roshar.” Pattern said in his humming voice. “Someplace new.”

“Not Roshar?” Kaladin said. “Then where are we?”

“Hmm. Strange. I can not discern the pattern here. Most exciting indeed.”

Kaladin looked at the sky. Clear blue with not a cloud to be seen. “Exciting is not the word I would use.” he muttered. He looked back down towards the building that looked like an Oathgate. “I’m not sure what word I would use to describe this.”

He lashed himself towards the structure.


	5. Chapter 5

Veil muttered a curse under her breath. She had never minded the dark. Or been overly concerned about being confined in narrow spaces. But something about this place just felt...oppressive.

The unending corridors. The unnerving quiet. There was something primally unnatural about it. Something she couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was the lack of good company. The bridge boys spren had seemingly abandoned her, fluttering off by herself deeper into the shadows.

“Are we actually getting anywhere? Or are we just spinning in circles?” she asked.

Radiant didn’t reply. “Hey. I asked you-“

Veil turned to find her gone. Her brow furrowed at that. She had been right behind her. Hadn’t she?

She spun on her heel, trying to see where she had gotten too. Only darkness greeted her gaze. “Outstanding brightness. Why not just get yourself lost in this place...“

Voices echoed to her from places she could not see.

“I am concerned for you Shallan.” said Radiant. “You need to ascertain a greater control of yourself. You can’t keep letting these illusions consume you.”

“I am trying!” Shallan said. “But they’re so pervasive. Sometimes their voices grow louder than mine and I can’t contain them.”

Something tweaked at the back of Veil’s mind. A sense of unease. A sense of wrongness. What was it?

“Then we will need to train.” Radiant said. “Exercise your mind to exert greater command over the others.”

“I’m not sure I’m strong enough...it’s so much easier to hide...to let the mask become reality.”

What about this conversation made Veil so deeply uncomfortable? Some aspect of it was eluding her. Refusing to let her pin it down.

“I feel like I lose a little more of myself each day. Like my mind is starting to fracture…” There was a pause. “I’m scared Radiant.”

Shallans voice. Hearing Shallan’s voice. That’s what was wrong. It wasn’t coming from her own mouth. It wasn’t coming out of Veil’s mouth. It was separate. It was apart.

Veil suddenly found her legs very uncertain beneath her. Before she could try to react, her body sagged and she collapsed against the wall. A deeply haggard breath clawed down her throat. Her eyes squeezed shut of their own accord. Someone else was controlling them now.

The next thing Veil knew she was bashing her fist against her forehead. Beating down on it again and again. Trying to escape. Trying to break free. 

The mask cracked all at once. Shallan gasped as Veil shattered apart. She was back in her body. Shallan was back in control.

She quickly huddled her legs up to her chest and hugged them tightly. Terror gripped her. That illusion had gone too far. She had gone too far. Shallan was losing herself. Distinguishing between her personas, what was real and what was fabrication, was becoming almost impossible to her. Each persona was becoming confident they were the real owner of this body.

“I am Shallan.” she whispered to herself. “I am the real one.” At least, that’s what this face believed anyway.

* * *

Shallan had no idea how long she sat in the darkness. Silently cradling herself. But eventually a familiar pale blue light returned to her.

"Shallan?” Syl whispered. “You’re not okay. Are you?”

She simply shook her head, then deposited her face into her knees. The light grew brighter and somehow softer as Syl settled down upon her shoulder. Shallan had never known the spren to do that with anyone but Kaladin.

Syl didn’t say anything. She simply sat there. Her mere presence itself reassuring. Consoling even. Shallan could begin to understand now why Kaladin was so fond of her. She couldn’t cure the pain, but she could soften it. She could massage a crippled heart. Even when she wasn’t trying too.

After a while Syl floated down from her perch to place her hand on Shallan’s knee. “I found the exit.” she whispered. “I’ll show you the way.”

A slight tugging sensation started on her hand. Syl was gently trying to pull her up. Shallan took the prodding and dragged herself to her feet.

The spren began slowly floating away down the corridor, leading the way. Shallan made sure to follow close behind her. She was scared of being alone again. She was afraid of losing Syl again. She was terrified of losing herself again.


	6. Chapter 6

“Sixteen?” Kaladin asked.

Pattern hummed. “Sixteen.” he confirmed.

“If I remember correctly there were ten heralds.”

“And yet there are sixteen faces.” said the spren. “Fascinating.”

Kaladin shook his head softly. This was clearly no ordinary Oathgate. If any Oathgate could be considered _ordinary_. For instance, beyond the sixteen intricately painted reliefs staring down at him, there was also no obvious control mechanism. No way to activate the device.

He scanned the room. It was slightly larger than a traditional control room. The building itself was perched atop a platform of white marble, which had been seamlessly carved into the mountain side. The craftsmanship was extraordinary.

But none of that helped him figure out how to use it. This was a task probably better suited to Shallan’s talents. “All right.” he said. “We’ve found the way out. Now we better go find the girls before-“

There was a loud humming emanating from the ceiling. Looking up he found Pattern hovering one of the reliefs. One very particular relief.

“Honor.” the spren hummed.


	7. Chapter 7

Light. Glorious hallowed light. Shallan stepped out of the darkness and embraced it. The whispers that had plagued her in the shadows fell away, becoming muted and distant. Such bliss as she had not known in a very long time fell upon her.

“Wow.” Syl said with wonder.

Shallan agreed. It was wonderful. Then she realized she had been looking towards the sky. Drinking in the sun. Syl wasn't referring to her. She turned her attention down to see what had captivated the spren.

Her breath caught in her chest. A city. A magnificent collection of buildings, bridges, and structures of all kinds, jutting out of what must have been a dozen mountains at least. A panorama of splendid architecture, mixed with stunning natural beauty, stretched away from them in every direction. 

Shallan counted no less than sixteen temples. Each carved from what looked like the mountains themselves. The scale of it all boggled Shallan’s mind. She had thought Urithiru to be vast. But each temple here dwarfed the tower city. Taken together they dominated the landscape. Becoming more a geological feature then a mere map marker.

Shallan could only gape at the majesty of it all.

“Stunning.” Radiant whispered in awe.

“Beautiful.” Shallan agreed…wait. Radiant? She turned to her side to see the idealised version of herself staring wide eyed at the city. 

“Eh.” said Veil. “You’ve seen one giant city in the sky, you’ve seen them all.” Shallan span to find the sly looking woman also standing beside her.

“Can you two give me five minutes to myself!?” she seethed.

“Sure.” Veil said with a shrug. “I’m just here to see what the big deal about the view was.” She promptly collapsed into a cloud of Stormlight.

Shallan blinked. That had been easier than she had imagined it would be. But something about the way Veil had said it concerned her. Why it did though, she wasn’t sure.

She turned back to face Radiant, only to find her studying Shallan with a critical eye. “Remember what we talked about Shallan.” she chided. “Control. Learn to distinguish which is the mask, and which is the true you.” She abruptly evaporated into a fine mist and vanished.

Shallan stared at the spot she had been. A profound sense of unease squirming inside her. She clenched her hand as the stress bubbling inside worked it way outward. She took a steadying breath and turned her attention back to the city.

Thankfully. Mercifully. Syl hadn’t seen that little theatre act. She’d instead zoomed off down the stairway in front of them, which led onto a large plateau suspended high above the valleys below. From her position high above, Shallan could see it acted as a sort of common area to connect the various temples.

In fact the city was so vast, it was linked via multiple plateaus, all interconnected with each other. Again the sheer baffling scale of it all struck her. 

She blinked and took a memory of it. Her hand itched to sketch it immediately. But it would just have to wait. There were more pressing matters to attend too. Like finding a way back home. And uncovering where the _storms_ Pattern and the bridgeboy had vanished off to.


	8. Chapter 8

“Honour.” murmured Kaladin. He turned to face another relief. “Odium.” Gods. Or beings that claimed to be anyway. Which meant…

“A pantheon...sixteen different gods?”

“Shards.” Pattern said as he buzzed over each figure in turn. “Aspects of a greater whole. Each an echo of something greater.”

“Shards? Echoes?”

Pattern hummed in agreement.

“So not gods?”

“Not gods.” he agreed.

Kaladin felt like he had been whacked across the back. If what the spren was saying was true, then Vorinism was wrong. This one room undermined the entire faith’s foundations. In fact it undermined pretty much every religion in Roshar. It meant that Honour was not The All Mighty. He never had been. He had been merely a piece of the true All Mighty.

Kaladin had never been much one to care for theology. But standing here? Faced with such startling revelations? It managed to shake him. Everyone in Roshar was wrong. Everyone who had lived in the world was wrong. That revelation was perhaps the one that scared him the most.

* * *

A sound intruded upon his contemplation. It sounded like...a flute? Yes it was definitely a flute. Music borne on the winds. Kaladin perked his ear up to better hear. His brow furrowed. “Hold on…” There was something familiar about it. “I know that music!”

He charged out of the room and back onto the platform outside. He scanned the area, looking for the source of the piping. Kaladin spotted him. Sitting on top of the mountain adjacent, above the archway he had emerged from, was Wit.

The man had perched himself upon the crown of the peak. Looking as comfortable as anything. As Kaladin gawked, Wit finally seemed to take notice of him. He paused his tune to raise his arm and wave. A grin upon his lips.

“Insufferable man.” said a voice beside him. Kaladin jumped near out of his skin as he jolted back sideways, putting distance between himself and the voice.

A tall, handsome looking figure was its owner. Neither male nor female, Kaladin couldn’t quite discern what they were.

“Don’t get me wrong.” they continued. “He has his charms. And I love him for it. But it makes him no less insufferable.”

“Who are you!?” Kaladin demanded. He hadn’t perhaps meant to say it quite like that, but panic warped his words as they tumbled out of his mouth.

The person chuckled. “Who am I? Nothing more than what you see.” they said. “ _ Some _ ,” they gestured towards Wit, “might call me a ghost. But I far prefer my original title.” 

“And what title is that?”

They cast a look at Kaladin. “Adonalsium.”


	9. Chapter 9

“Is someone playing the flute?” Shallan asked.

“Hmm?” Syl said looking back at her. “I don’t hear anything.”

“I could have sworn…” She shook her head. Clearly this place was playing tricks on her. Well. More tricks anyway.

“Nevermind.” She’d have to put aside whatever distractions that were thrown at her. She had to remain focused on finding a way home. Even if the scholar part of her mind wanted nothing more than to stop and study everything.

“Focus Shallan.” she whispered to herself. “Oathgate. Find the Oathgate.” If there even was one. The journey from the tunnel exit to the nearest temple had revealed no sign of a structure she might recognize as an Oathgate. Just temples and plateaus. With the occasional tower interspersed among them.

She stared at the extravagant entrance way before her. It was built in a circular fashion, with mighty columns holding it up around the circumference. At its centre was a pedestal, bearing a statue of a woman some fifty feet high at the least. Shallan did not recognize the figure.

“Syl?” she said, studying the statute. “Thoughts?”

“I look really good in a sun hat.”

Shallan frowned and looked at her. “What?”

“You asked for my thoughts? Those are my thoughts.” Okay. Clearly she’d have to be more specific.

“About the statue, Syl.”

“Oh, I don’t think they’d look very good in a sunhat. Doesn’t match with their face. Perhaps if they-“

“About who they are.” she said exasperated. “Do you recognise them?”

“Ohhhh.” Syl said with a slow nod. “Nope.”

Great. Stuck at square one. At least that meant one positive thing. They could only go up from here.

“Okay. Well I guess we should head inside then. Unless you have any other ideas?”

She cast a look at the spren, who was now sporting a sunhat and studying her reflection in a little spren mirror. “Nope.” she said again.

Shallan rolled her eyes. She stepped past Syl and into the temple.


	10. Chapter 10

Kaladin sat slumped at the edge of the platform. His feet dangling over oblivion.

“Why?” he asked hoarsely.

“Their reasons elude me. I am but a mere shadow of the being I once was. As such I am limited, and unable to fathom the why of it.”

“No.” Kaladin said. “I mean why bring us here? Why tell us these things?”

The shade of the being that had once been known as Adonalsium took on a distant look. Seeing with eyes far away.

“I am dead Kaladin Stormblessed. I can no longer control what things I wrought in life.” They turned back to look at the Oathgate. “My children now endanger all that I built. Squabbling amongst themselves. Killing one another. It threatens the balance. It threatens creation.”

“And what do you expect me to do!?” Kaladin said. “Fight them!? How do you expect any of us to do that!?”

“I do not desire conflict, Kaladin.” they said, a mournful cast to their voice. “I seek only understanding. Resolution. Peace.”

“And you think I can achieve that?”

“I do not know. I no longer see as far as I once could. Many things lie beyond my vision. Your future is one such thing. As are all living things. I know only what was, and what is, and no more.”

Kaladin sighed and pressed his hand against his head. He felt heavy. Burdened even.

“Why me?”

Adonalsium stared out across the mountains. “You are not the first Kaladin. You will not be the last. I am unable to influence the world any longer. My children stole that power from me. So instead, I share my story. Hoping that one day, someone will find the solution. The answers I can not locate. It is all I can do now.”

“Share your story?” Kaladin said with a derogatory chuckle. How he could find amusement given what he had just learnt was beyond him. “You sound like Wit.”

Adonalsium grinned. “I should take that as an insult. But perhaps me and that old piper have more in common then I’d ever care to admit.”

In the distance a triumphant flourish of flute music sounded. Kaladin turned to look and found Wit had vanished.

Adonalsium shook his head, a gentle smile touching his lips. “Damn. He’s waited I don’t know how long to get me to say that. He’s finally won this game.”

They turned to look where Wit had been. “Insufferable man.”


	11. Chapter 11

Radiant tracked her fingers across the fine detailing of the masonry. Such a marvel of architectural design. The intricacy was unlike any she had ever seen. Full of swirls and geometric shapes. No mortal hand could have crafted such complexity.

The temple was also massive. Easily a whole city unto itself. Which only again impressed upon her the true scale of the vast collection of temples outside. It was almost impossible to comprehend. She had trouble even-

Was that flute music? She drew to a halt and listened.

“Syl. You can hear that correct?”

The spren stopped and looked around. “I think so. Do you mean the music?”

“What else would I be referring to?”

"I don’t know.” she said with a shrug. “That’s why I asked.”

Radiant suppressed a noise of discontent at the spren’s tendency to speak in absurdities. She settled for a roll of the eyes instead.

“Can you tell which way it’s coming from?” Radiant asked.

“Ummm. This way. I think.” Syl said floating off down a different immaculate hallway. Radiant fell into step behind her.

The melody that drifted towards her seemed awfully familiar. Something about the rhythm…

A realisation struck her. “Oh no.” she moaned. “Anyone but him…” She picked up her pace. 

Was that music growing louder? No. She was getting closer. The tempo increased, matching the pounding of her heart.

“All mighty please.” she begged. “Let it be somebody else! Anybody!”

The music grew frenzied as she broke into a sprint. “If this is one of his games…” she growled.

There! The doorway at the end of the corridor. She charged forwards and all but dashed into the room beyond it.

* * *

A giant domed chamber stretched before her. Circular in nature, and cast in a warm crystal light as the sun refracted through glass panels above, it had one sole feature. An enormous rock. Tall and slender, ringed by a thin round dais.

And sitting on that rock, flute in hand, and feet flailing freely over the side, was Wit.

“You!?” Radiant exclaimed, an accusatory finger levelled at him.

He nodded towards her and parted the flute from his lips. “Brightness.”

“How did- Why are you- How can-“ she stammered.

"I must say. Never, in all my long years, have I heard such eloquence from a Radiant.”

Syl fluttered past her and up to Wit. He proffered her a mischievous grin. After a short moment of inspecting him, she began streaking gleefully around him in a ribbon.

Radiant blinked and got a hold of herself. She needed to take back control of the conversation. 

“Are you responsible for this!?” she demanded, gesturing to the palace around them.

"Certainly not.” he said aghast. “I would never build something so garish. It just screams insecurity.”

She scoffed at him. “I mean why are we here? Is this your doing?”

“I assure you, my radiance, that I can honestly say I have no idea why _you_ are here. I might have an idea as to why everyone else is here. But for you specifically? Not a clue I’m afraid.”

She frowned dangerously at him. She was in no mood for his antics. “Why are you here?” she demanded.

He smiled in a self satisfied way. As if he were proud of some awful unspoken joke he had just made.

“Apologies, your Radiance. But the truth is I have this terrible tendency to occasionally indulge in corporeal existence. Such indulgence often causes me to appear in places from time to time. Awfully bad habit of mine I’m afraid. Always makes the people around me ever so dreadfully unhappy when it happens.”

Radiant scowled. “Can you ever just give a straight answer?”

“Where would be the fun in that?” he said cheerily.

She disliked how much fun he was having at her expense. “You’re far more chipper than usual.” she said warily.

“And you equally more dour.” he said. “Do you know when Shallan might be returning? I’m awfully fond of our verbal sparring matches. And she’s also ever so much more fun than yourself.”

Shallan? “I am-“ A voice cried out in the back of her head. Radiant stumbled backward. A mental lance cut through her and the facade exploded. Shallan stumbled out of the cloud of Stormlight wheezing and shaken.

“Ah! Shallan! A timely return!” Wit said. “We were just talking about you! And I had hoped for the opportunity to speak with you before your departure.”

Shallan staggered forward and placed a steadying hand on the rock. She had been totally lost in the illusion. She hadn’t been acting as Radiant. She had been Radiant. As real and true to her as Shallan was now.

“Oh child.” Wit said softly looking down at her. “I see you are still struggling to distinguish fiction and reality.”

She didn’t reply. Instead opting to continue staring down at the floor, taking sharp breaths as she tried to calm her racing heart.

Wit watched at her for a moment, with a look of sad sympathy. Then he raised a hand and gestured for the spren to attend him. “Sylphrena.” he called. She stopped her dance and flitted down next to him. He leaned in and whispered something inaudible to her.

The next thing Shallan knew Syl was on her shoulder again. Her presence comforting in a way Shallan found hard to describe. She found her breath steadying, and her heart slowing. The sound of soft music filled the chamber.

Relaxation of a kind Shallan wasn’t sure she had ever known settled inside her. The voices within her faded. She was Shallan. She was always Shallan. Even when she wasn’t. That was a comforting thought. “I am Shallan.” she whispered.

“As you always have been.” Wit said. “And always will be.”

She took one last long breath and exhaled, then looked up at Wit. “Thank you.”

He nodded “No, Shallan. Thank you.” he said with a smile. “Any opportunity to aid a lovely young lady such as yourself is reward enough for me.”

Voices murmured at the back of her mind. _‘Lovely_ ?’ they asked condescendingly _‘Shallan_ ? Clearly he doesn’t know _what_ she _really_ is.’

Shallan gritted her teeth against them. But, somewhere between Wit’s kindness and Syl’s presence, she was able to smother the insidious whispers. Stuffing them out of her mind. 

They were nought but hollow breezes. Pale imitations of her voice. Whereas Shallan herself? Well. She was a Highstorm. The howling wind was her voice, and she used it to sweep away those tiny insignificant breezes.

She felt a light pressure on the side of her face. She looked up to see Syl pressing her hand affectionately against her cheek. “All okay now?” the spren asked.

Shallan nodded. “All okay.” she confimred. “Thank you Syl.”

Syl nodded back at her, then launched off her shoulder to drift in the air.

‘Well. That was an embarrassing level of dramatic.’ her inner monologue helpfully commentated. ‘I should have taken up a career in theatre instead of academia.’

An exasperated sigh escaped her. As nice as it was being Shallan, she had to admit that she was an absolute handful, and that being her was an utterly exhausting experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is more to this story to come (Hopefully). I spent a week writing this so far and have hit a roadblock in the section that follows. I spent four days smashing my head against it to no avail. So I surrender for now and hope for future inspiration.


	12. Chapter 12

Pattern hummed contentedly from the front of Kaladin’s jacket. “I see...yes. I can see the design now.”

Kaladin himself simply took a hearty breath and gazed out over the vista. “It’s a lot to try and grasp.” he said. “So much of what we were taught is wrong. I don’t know what to believe anymore.”

“I would suggest beginning with yourself.” Adonalsium replied. “Make your own judgments Kaladin Stormblessed. Do not allow others to do so for you.”

Kaladin grunted. Were that so easy. “Easy for you to say.” he grumbled.

“No.” they said. “No it isn’t. Trusting in my own judgment was what led to the current state of affairs. It is the reason I am dead.”

“So first you tell me to trust in myself. Then you tell me that when you did so, it got you killed. I’m sensing some mixed messaging here.”

“Just because _my_ judgement was poor, does not mean my advice is poor. I have met many beings wiser than I Kaladin. Those who might have avoided my fate.”

Kaladin stared at them. Was this a god admitting some degree of humility? That’s not what he had expected. “You’re not what I imagined you would be.” he said. “So much more humble than I would have guessed.”

“And what would you have guessed before?” they asked, still purveying the mountain vista.

“I don’t know.” Kaladin admitted. “Maybe I thought you’d be...more aloof I guess?”

Adonalsium chuckled at that. “I was once. But death has a way of humbling even the most self conceited, all powerful deities.”

Kaladin continued to watch them for a time before nodding slowly and turning back to stare at the mountains. Perhaps if this were the kind of god the ardents taught, a relatable figure instead of some unreachable perfection, then perhaps he might have-

A brilliant light suddenly exploded behind them, pouring out of the Oathgate in a mist that shone as bright as the sun.

“Ah.” Adonalsium said, seemingly unfazed and continuing to survey the mountains. “The wayward son returns home at last.”

Kaladin swiveled around swiftly to find a tall figure, clad in golden robes, walking out of the blazing light. He stood tall and imperious and regarded them with cold eyes.

“So.” said Odium “This is where you were hiding.”


	13. Chapter 13

“-the absolute worst conversationalist I ever had the misfortune to meet.” Wit said. “And I can assure you, that is a most laudable accomplishment. Miraculous even.”

“Yes.” Shallan said patiently. “But who _was_ she?”

He twirled his flute in his hand. “You’re asking the wrong question.”

“And what would be the right question?”

“You should be asking _what_ she was instead.”

“Fine. _What_ was she?”

“Ah, now you see that is a good question. What she was, was a being of incredible power! A shard of the creator! One of the sixteen primal powers of the universe! The antithesis of the spoken word and the physical embodiment of damnation for any who love the art of conversation!”

She sighed. “ _Wit.”_

He grinned. “But in the common tongue you probably would have just called her Ambrion.”

“All right. That’s at least some sort of progress. Now would you-“

He abruptly paused her with a raised hand. She stumbled to a halt in her words as he seemed to search the air. 

“What are you-“

He placed his finger against his lips and made a shushing noise.

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

Wit ignored her, cocking his ear upward. A silent moment passed and then a look of fear drew upon his face. “In the parlance of your people Shallan. _Storms!_ ”

“Wit? What’s going on?”

“The old fool delayed the transfer too long!” he said, stashing his flute into his coat and leaping down from the rock. “He’s found us!”

“What transfer!? Who’s found us!?”

“As to your first question. The Oathgate. As to your second question: Narcissism given form.”

“What does that mean?” she said 

“An old friend of mine. I’m afraid however that that statement was predicated solely in the past tense.”

He closed his eyes as he turned to place his hand upon the rock. It started glowing softly in response. Syl wafted back from her perch atop it and hovered beside Shallan.

“Wit!” she demanded. “What is happening!?” She was tired of the endless word games.

He sighed. “We have been discovered. And I would rather we not meet again. He finds me...disagreeable.”

“Who are you talking about!?”

Wit turned and looked her dead in the eye, and grimaced. “The kinslayer.”


	14. Chapter 14

“Welcome home, Rayse.” Adonalsium said, turning to face him.

“I should have known it would be your interference.” Odium replied. “Even in death you still see fit to meddle in my affairs.”

“I do not meddle, child. I merely provide the occasional nudge.”

“Call it what you will. It is a nuisance. One I have borne for far too long, shade.”

Adanosalium smiled. “Killing me once wasn’t enough? Do you really intend to repeat your folly a second time?”

“Your words are hollow, shade.” Odium sneered. “Killing you would mean nothing. Nor do I have any interest in doing so. You are an echo. Nothing more. Loud and annoying. But harmless.”

“Harmless am I?” Adonalsium said, a trace of mirth in their voice. “Well then. Please. By all means. Continue on as you were.”

Odium seemed to pause at that, considering the echo of the dead god's words. His eyes narrowed, and then shifted to Kaladin.

“Stormblessed, was it? Tell me. What do you hope to accomplish in coming here? In continuing to defy me? You follow in the benighted footsteps of a dead shard. What hope do you possess against me?”

Kaladin met his gaze, and frowned. “I don’t know.” he admitted, slowly lowering down into his spear stance. “And honestly? I don’t care. Whether I have any hope of defeating you is genuinely irrelevant. Because someone has to stand against you. Someone must stop the poison you spread. Someone must administer the cure and suture the wound. And if that person must be me, then I accept that fate.”

“Foolish.” Odium sneered. “Ignorant. You continue to challenge me on principle alone? You can no more threaten me than could an ant.”

Kaladin had no idea what an ant was, but he didn’t care. “You call me foolish. But you said it yourself. I follow Honour. A dead shard. Which means…” He started glowing with Stormlight. “A shard can be killed. You can be killed.”

Odium scowled. “Under other circumstances I would find your resolve amusing.” A long spear materialized in his hand. “But not here. Not now.”

Kaladin prepared himself. Ready for anything that-

Odium moved so fast he became a blur. Kaladin barely even had time to register Odium charging right up in front of him, and ramming the point of his spear straight into his heart.


	15. Chapter 15

“Kaladin and Pattern are still here somewhere!” Shallan yelled. “We can’t just leave!”

“Correction.” Wit said. “You can’t just leave. I can come and go as I please.”

“Are you actually going to abandon us here then!?”

“No of course not! I was merely pointing out that-“

“I know what you were saying!” she snapped. “And what I’m saying is we can’t leave until we find them!”

He stared at her for a second and then sighed. “Very well child. As you wish. I always did have a weakness for young women in need. But I have to ask, would you change your mind even a little if I told you that I know for a fact that they are safe? Safer in fact then we are here?”

“How can they be safe!?” she protested. “If Odium is here as you say then none of us are safe!”

He didn’t respond immediately, instead looking at the rock which looked to be leaking Stormlight profusely now.

“I don’t get involved like this Shallan.” he said at length. “I can’t. Not in this way. It is not my place to exert such influence so directly.”

Syl fluttered between them. “They need our help!” she said firmly, stamping her foot in the air. “We aren’t leaving without them.”

“Oh I already promised to help.” he said. “I will see you reunited with them. Unfortunately that means three things. The first is I will not be able to accompany you. A deliverance many spend entire lifetimes praying for.”

“The second is what I’m about to do only works one way. It’s a shortcut system between the temples. Saves on walking. But it means once you go, you won’t have time to come back.”

“And the third?” Shallan asked cautiously.

“That you are about to feel very very dizzy.”

The light wafted off the rock and began drifting lazily around her. She opened her mouth to ask what was happening, when everything promptly went black.

“But you are right about one thing.” Wit whispered, his voice sounding like a far distant echo. “If Odium is here, then none of us are safe...not even Odium.”


End file.
